Veteran Gulf Cartel Gunman Dies in Apparent Suicide

MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas — A retired gunman who spent more than 30 years as a triggerman for the Gulf Cartel, recently committed suicide. The case has become a much discussed topic in this border city, since the gunman was from a time when drug cartels did not victimize average citizens. From the 1960s to the 1990s, the Gulf Cartel and other criminal empires were not tied to human smuggling, kidnapping, extortion or other crimes that affected the general public.

The Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office in Matamoros confirmed to Breitbart Texas the recent suicide of of Jose Alonzo “El Amable” Perez de la Rosa.Relatives found the man at his home in a modest neighborhood called Melchor Ocampo. Preliminary information points to Perez having shot himself once in his head with a 9mm handgun. The man had been wearing sweatpants and tennis shoes when authorities found him inside the working class house.

Perez had earned the nickname “El Amable” for the particular way in which he carried out his executions. During his time as a hitman for the Gulf Cartel, Perez would always wear exotic animal boots and western clothing. The man would drive to the victim’s home and invite him for a few drinks. Once the two had consumed several drinks, Perez would apologize and would then ask permission from the victim to carry out the execution.

The almost gentleman-like fashion of carrying out executions is a direct contrast with the modern cartel sicarios, that are often described as nothing more than thugs. Perez comes from a time when the Gulf Cartel was known as the Matamoros Cartel under the leadership of its founder Juan Nepomuceno Guerra. During that time, the criminal organization acted more like the Italian Mafia by being discreet with their smuggling activities and keeping violence to a minimum.

From being Guerra’s trusted bodyguard, Perez then became the top enforcer for Juan Garcia Abrego, who inherited the cartel from his uncle. Under Garcia Abrego, Perez belonged the upper echelons within the cartel joined by Jose Luis “El Cabezon” Sosa Mayorga, Luis Medrano Garcia, Oscar Malherbe De Leon and others who have since been imprisoned or murdered.

Perez spent several years in prison on weapons charges. It was during his time in prison that the man retired from cartel activities. Perez had been released from federal prison less than a year and a half ago. After his release, the man had retired into a quite life. The prosecutor that initially sent him to prison was Sergio Adame Ochoa, the federal prosecutor had been sent to Tamaulipas during the 1990’s with the orders to put pressure on the Gulf Cartel.As previously reported by Breitbart Texas, Adame Ochoa was recently arrested in San Antonio by the Criminal Investigations Division of the Internal Revenue Service in connection with money laundering charges.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.A. Espinoza from Matamoros.